Is This Newcastle´s Best Team For Stoke City?

Newcastle return to action at Stoke City on Wednesday night after 18 days preparing for this game and we´ll just have to wait and see which team turns up for the game and whether there will be any additional fight and spirit than the team showed last time out at Stamford Bridge.

We were hammered 5-1 in that game and the performance was simply a disgrace to the good name of Newcastle United.

And the powers that be at Newcastle also missed a great opportunity to fire Steve McClaren after that particularly terrible result and his woeful performance all season as the head coach of the club – and we are now afraid Charnley and company will hang onto him as he takes us down to the Championship.

Chancel Mbemba – likely to return at Stoke City
There are still 12 games to go but if we are to survive we have to start winning games like the next two – away at Stoke and at home to Bournemouth.

The good news is we have a number of our players back from injury for Wednesday night and it looks like Chancel Mbemba, Jack Colback, Vurnon Anita, Paul Dummett, Siem de Jong and Aleksandar Mitrovic are all fit for the game.

However for Fabricio Coloccini, Cheick Tiote, Papiss Cisse, Kevin Mbabu, Gabriel Obertan and Massadio Haidara it will come too early, although the first three could be fit for the Bournemouth game.

Here´s a decent side Steve McClaren could start at the Britannia Stadium and get the win we all want to see.

@jib – I like Riviere. I watched him lots in france, Reckon his problem has been that hes been used as a number 9 when really hes better wide of a 3 of behind a striker.
That said, even in france his finishing was bloody woeful!

Personally I wouldn’t start Sissoko or Wijnaldum in this one. For 2 reasons, 1) they just don’t do it away from home! 2) They do it at home and Bournemouth is like an absolute cup final!
I’d start with a 4-5-1 turning into a 4-3-3 and play
Elliott
Janmaat Taylor Mbemba Dummett
Tiote Colback
Townesend Shelvey Aarons/Gini
Mitro/doumbia (whoevers fitter)

I wish we had a proper manager to pick his best team.
He would base it on how they trained through the week and the attitude they showed.
This Clown won’t do that.
It will be the usual. How do I fit my favourites and big names onto a team sheet even if it means square pegs in round holes.

@Jib – to be honest Rivi would probably link well with Mitrovic. Very similar player to Troy Deeney and I think Mitro has been made to look worse because there are less players getting close to him. His knock downs, flick ons are great. Actually think Doumbia and Riviere would compliment each other too. I think doumbia and mitro probably would going forward but leave us exposed for pressing.
Unfortunately I think in that second striker role Riviere just has too many infront of him. De Jong, Gini and Perez are probably all ahead of him in the thinking.
Personally I’d love to see us play a bit of 4-4-2. Its working for watford and Leicester and spurs have used it frequently. We have the personal for it. Be a throwback to the keegan days…
Elliott
Janmaat Taylor Mbemba Dummett
Gini Shelvey Saivet Townesend
Mitro Doumbia
Play more direct, get the wingers running at players (gini played right mid quite a lot in Holland, can play there)

@Rotonda – legend has it that Exeter manager Paul Tisdale actually spoke to Newcastle before we appointed Pardew…
I liked the McClaren appointment at the time, and I can see some positives, but results are results.
McClaren is on about 3m a year. (was the highest paid championship manager at derby on 2.5m)
Question is… if you offered 3m a year, and told the incomining manager he’d have 80m to spend in his first season and then at a guess say 40m to spend per year after that… what manager could you get??
Can’t think of too many managers outside of England that are on 3m a year. Tuchel is on less than half that at Dortmund! Or that get to spend that kind of money. The possibilities would have been endless.

abied left for first team footie and kemen the same i would think
why wouldnt they want to go niether knew if mclaren would help or hinder there chances for first team football
while pardew was manager there was no real program here to develop players and no real route to the first team

jayphoto

i would be more inclined to keep shelvey further back and maybe try dejong in the gini role away from home
although we have to try something diffrent away as what we are doing aint working

toontaff2
I’ve seen his interview in French.
He has a regular spot on Canal plus featuring French expat players (he’s featured cos Ginola is a big noise in Canal plus)
The theme is an outsiders view of Ligue1.
He can only answer the questions he’s asked bonny lad.

When I saw Rivi playing in person I was impressed because in comparison to the other forwards he played more for the team, rather than as an individual and tried to get his head on to the flick ons, crosses. I am looking forward to seeing him alongside Mitro aka Watford.

Against Stoke I would perhaps start de Jong alongside Gini and leave out Mitro from the starting 11. Plus look to bring Saivet on to replace Sissoko when the opportunity arises, both players need to start shaping up and bringing more to the team and the direct competition for a place will them good.

@Beermonkey – Definitely agree! Im guessing it’ll be the same old at Stoke on Wednesday though!
I like how close de jong gets to the striker. Results are better when he plays yet he doesn’t play well.
I think at this stage his leadership will be important.
I think Saivet might be a decent addition away from home too. Both de jong and saivet retain the ball well which is something we’ve lacked.

Exactly, everyone says no one would work for Ash and his ”alleged” constraints. However, the truth is the money has been provided and the constraints have only really been talked up by failed managers.

For example AP was such a negative infuence he made the Europa league seem a drag, not something to be enjoyed and basically always played a virtual reserve team, while positive people like Pochettino embrace it. the whole mindset is chalk and cheese.

I don’t think any competent manager would have played someone (HBA) for a full 90 mins after a serious 4 month injury lay off on a plastic pitch and in sub zero conditions.

However, that is the level of dark age mediocrity that has been foisted on us for years.

Alongside his crass appointment of Wonga as a sponsor, the biggest problem is that Ashley just doesn’t know football and has always been surrounded by goons and drinking buddies, all totally inappropriate people to run a multi million pound business.

SM may play some more football at home but he hasn’t grasped the 3 points for a win concept away from home where we still capitulate on a regular basis trying to contain and nick 1.

“McClaren is on about 3m a year. (was the highest paid championship manager at derby on 2.5m)”

Jayphoto, can I ask where you are getting that info from

From what I read,McClaren stated he was not influenced by money which is why he accepted the Derby job. McClaren’s contract at Newcastle is supposedly heavily incentivised, meaning he will only be earning his basic.

Brendan Rodgers was earning 3 million a year at Liverpool. I would be surprised if a sacked Derby boss earns more than a very in demand Rodgers back then. McClaren would be in the top 25 paid managers in the world on that amount.

i get they wanted first team football but we let them go for almost nothing. with a proper management and coaching structure in place (Maybe I should stop there lol!!) surely the likes of perez, MBabu, MBemba Aarons Woodman, Armstrong, roberts etc could realise their potential here.

Kemen could have been just what we needed slightly longer term, he’s only just turned 19!

@Ancient C – Was pretty well documented down here in Derbyshire when he took the derby job what he was offered to take it. Pretty sure I remember it being 2m with bonuses for playoffs, league position etc taking it upto 2.5m. Pretty sure it was similar for him when he took over forest too?
Big Sam was on far more as West Ham manager in the championship than that too

Also… McClaren turned down the job in January. We were 11th at the time. True Derby were in the top 3 but No way did he turn down a premier league job on premier league money if he was on peanuts at Derby!

how many times did we hear from pards that this player and that player were doing really well and deserving of playing first team football and then we never saw in the first team or they made the bench

i like the fact mclaren has a few out onloan,
players want the best for there career look at sammy he is 22 the amount of first team football he has compared to lots of other 22 year olds they have 2 3 times more games behind them
and this is where we fail
if they think there going to rot in our under21s then there going to leave

From good old Wikipedia
In September 2013, less than three months after being appointed at QPR, McClaren returned to Derby County when he was appointed head coach to replace the sacked Nigel Clough, signing a two and a half year deal.
May 20015 leaves 10 months

B and B
Even if we paid the higher figures mooted he stil would cost no more in salary than one of our upper echelon players.
Considering the importance of a manager to a club , even middle range ones could be considered underpaid.

McClaren has been given three years to show what he can do and I believe no matter what he will get those 3 years.
Relegation will have been discussed at some stage of negotiating his contract (that’s why all signings since he came have been given a salary guarantee for the Championship from previous experience)
In the extremely unlikely event we go down this season he still has 2 years to bring us back up and achieve success.

Kemen played 15 minutes, and made his first appearance of the season against PSG. Ligue 1 is far poorer than the Prem, he would have been nowhere near Prem quality this season had he stayed. He would have been on loan in League 1 like Arma most likely.

All these Aarons rumours are more likely to be nothing more than his agent spreading word. I don’t blame the club for not giving him a big contract and wage. The guy has struggled for fitness since he was at Bristol City. Of course, it depends what the club have offered, but it should be nothing more than a low basic and big incentives. If that isn’t good enough for him then he can head off and keep Walcott, Gibbs and the Ox company in Arsenal’s medical facilities.

Woodman would be the bigger loss. Ideally we would have kept them all, but Kemen wanted first team quicker, which he is more likely to get in a poorer league. Still hopeful the club will agree something with Aarons and Woodman.

Jib,
Is it confirmed that Shelvey, Gini, Mitro et al have reductions in their contract? I queried this during the window but then read several articles saying that they didn’t have the clauses in. I would have thought it was just plain common sense to do that, but then if I was a player negotiating that I’d demand a minimum fee release if the club suffered relegation as well.

Jib,
Can’t say I’ve ever really seen him play, or if I have, never really noticed or paid attention to him, so can’t be of any help. I remember reading he did well last summer in one of the youth tournaments we played in, but other than that I’ve been paying closer attention to Woolston’s progress if I’m honest.

Jib,
He would need three years for that though would he not? Promotion, survive, charge the table. Would Leicester be where they are now had Pearson stayed in charge?

I’m not saying he won’t get the full three years, but it would be difficult to achieve anything resembling success in the following 2 years. Granted, we would likely be told that just surviving after promotion is an achievement in itself.

Beer,
All depends who stays, who goes, impossible to say at this stage. I still think we would have side that would be in a position to push for automatic promotion.

A bit of a reshuffle in personnel would be needed, but I can’t see many of this seasons players being given much of an opportunity to jump ship, and others who might jump ship I wouldn’t see as much of a loss.

A lot would depend on whether Ashley is determined to see us go straight back up and hang onto certain players whilst bringing others in, or if he decides to cash in on others and not invest.

Beer,
Who would buy half of them? Gini, Janmaat and Sissoko would be off. Possibly Perez and Krul. Honestly, I wouldn’t lament being rid of Janmaat, Sissoko or Krul. The rest I think would struggle to find buyers willing to stump up the fee or match their wages.

In honor of two dedicated Newcastle fans, who lost their lives supporting Newcastle United.

Their passenger jet was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday July 17th, 2014 by rebels, as they were traveling to support the team in New Zealand.

We will never forget them.

Health Update - 4 Aug, 2016

The good news last week was that after more blood tests my PSA count is still undetectable

This means the prostate cancer is still under control, and there is no trace of it in the body.

Now to be even more vigilant so I can see the Rafa Benitez project come to its fruition over the next few years - wouldn't want to miss that.

Howay The Lads!!>

Ed Harrison

What Is A Football Club?

What is a club in any case?

Not the buildings or the directors or the people who are paid to represent it.

It’s not the television contracts, get-out clauses, marketing departments or executive boxes.

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city.

It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.